Java Reflection API

Reflection API of java is a way to access and modify the state of any object includes constructors, fields, methods during the runtime.

It can access the metadata of a class and its members, including their types, modifiers, annotations, and generic information.

Methods

getDeclaredFields() - return the list of fields of an object
getDeclaredField(name) - return the particular field of an object
get(object) - return the value of particular field of an object
set(object, value) - assign the new value to the particular field of an object
getDeclaredConstructors() - return the list of constructors of an object
getDeclaredMethods() - return the list of methods of an object
getDeclaredMethod(name) - return the particular field of an object
setAccessible(true) - used to set the accessibility of a field or method
invoke(object) - used to call the methods of an object

The Reflection API is powerful but also has below limitations and risks.

Reflection API can be slower because it will do operations in runtime.
Accessing or invoking private fields may violate encapsulation and security policies.
Reflection API may not work correctly in dynamic code generation or bytecode manipulation operations.